Some wireless communication systems base control decisions (such as handoff decisions, allocation of channels, allocation of frequencies and management of other resources) on signal strength measurements. In mobile assisted handoff, for example, each mobile station periodically measures the strengths of signals from its serving base station and from surrounding base stations. The mobile station reports these measurements to the wireless communication system. The wireless communication system determines from these signal strength measurements whether a handoff to another base station is necessary and which base station should the mobile be handed off to. Such signal strength based control decisions may be incorrect because of interference, such as noise, from sources internal and external to the wireless system.
All transmitters generate noise; that is, energy at frequencies other than the assigned operating frequency. A transmitter's noise can cause an erroneous signal strength measurement when the transmitter's noise at a particular frequency is greater than the signal strength of another transmitter assigned to that frequency. Erroneous measurements may result in incorrect control decisions, such as an unnecessary mobile station handoff or the allocation of a channel that cannot sustain a call.